A Weekend at Relena's
by T.D. Winner
Summary: Relena invites Heero to her house for the weekend. The other pilots overhear and decide to tag along.


A Weekend at Relena's 

A Weekend at Relena's 

By TD Winner

8-14-01

Note: I don't own Gundam Wing. It belongs to Sunrise and Sotstu Agency. Plus there's some minor character bashing, so you've been warned.

PART I: Getting there 

One Friday, during the middle of December, Relena decided to take a day off from her pacifism job. Since it would be snowing for the next few days, she decided to invite Heero over to spend sometime with her. 

"How romantic," she thought as she dialed Heero's number.

Instead of hearing Heero, she heard Duo, "Uh…you have reached the house of uh…Heero Yuy. He is not available right now so call back later."

In the background, Relena heard Quatre call, "Duo! Don't say that! You're not his answering machine!"

She then heard Wufei yell, "BAH! Such immature behavior!"

Duo's voice returned, "Hey, man! Shut up! I'm on the phone! Uh…this is a recording. I repeat---hey! Trowa! (click!)

"Hello???" Relena said into the phone. She only heard the dial tone, "Heero must be busy." She dialed again.

"Hello?" said a calm voice.

"Heero? It's Relena!" Relena said excitedly.

"Huh?"

"Heero! Don't you recognize my voice?" Relena was beginning to worry.

"I'm Trowa." Said the voice.

"Oh my!" Relena said in embarrassment, "I'm sorry! Can you get me Heero?" There was a brief pause as Trowa handed Heero the phone.

"Yeah?" Said Heero in his serious voice.

"Heero!" Relena cried, "Wanna come over to my place this evening?"

"We're in the colonies, woman! It takes at least ten hours to get from here to the Earth!" Relena heard Wufei scream.

'GET OFF THIS LINE!" Relena shouted, "I WANT A PRIVATE CONVERSATION WITH HEERO!" Unbeknownst to Relena, everyone else had run upstairs to crowd around the phone in Heero's room.

"Heero? Are you still there?" Relena called out.

"Yeah." Heero muttered.

"Ah…about coming over," Relena began, "When do you think you can come over?"

Meanwhile upstairs, the other three pilots were crowding around the phone in Duo's hand. Quatre stood in the corner, claiming that it wasn't right to listen in on other people. 

"So, what's Heero's woman saying?" Wufei whispered.

Duo cupped the phone, "Uh…she's saying she wants him to….ooohh!"

"What?" Wufei hissed, "TELL ME!!!" He was silenced by a round 'shhhhh!'s' from Duo and Trowa. Wufei decided to keep quiet.

"…Saturday?" Heero repeated, " Mission accepted." 

"Oh great!" Relena said happily, "I'llsee you—(click)…why does he keep doing that to me???"

"So?" Wufei stood up, "What did Relena Peacecraft say?"

Duo snickered as he hung up the phone, " Oh, nothing. Except that she invited him to her mansion to spend the weekend!" 

"Why should we care?" Quatre called out, "It's none of our business!" Wufei and Duo shrugged. Trowa, as always, just stood there.

"So, Maxwell, what are you planning this time?" Wufei said suspiciously.

Duo grinned, "Weeeelll…heh heh heh….I say we go with Heero and---'

"GO WITH HEERO?" Quatre cried, "Duo! We aren't even invited!"

Duo shrugged, "We'll just say we're uh…looking after our little buddy, that's all."

Quatre looked away, " This isn't right, you know."

"Wait a minute," said Wufei, "Just why are you suggesting that we follow Heero? You already got a woman…" Everyone turned to Duo.

"Uh…I…uh…well…oh man." Duo began to look uneasy, "Uh…HEY! THEY'RE GONNA BE IN A HOT TUB! DON'T YOU WANT TO SEE WHAT HAPPENS???" 

Wufei rubbed his chin, "Hmmm…you have a point, Maxwell. Yessss…."

"Fine." Trowa shrugged, "I'm in."

"Wait a second, Trowa!" Quatre cried, "take a minute to reconsider!"

Trowa nodded and looked at his watch. After one minute, Trowa said, "I'm going."

Quatre sweat-dropped, "Uh…in that case, I'll go too." 

"Figures." Duo muttered, "Um…so, we're in?"

"Yeah." Quatre said uneasily.

"Fine!" Wufei said. Trowa just nodded.

Suddenly Heero walked in the door, "You guys are going to have to pay for your own tickets."

"Fine." Everyone said. Trowa just raised an eyebrow. Everybody got up to go home and pack. 

"Hurry up, guys! The shuttle leaves in three hours!" Quatre called. 

"Oh crap," Duo thought, "How am I supposed to pay for my ticket? And what about Hilde?"

"Uh…Hilde," Duo said as he walked into the kitchen, "Something just came up and I won't be here for the next few days."

"What came up?" Hilde looked up from her book, "It's something you talked your friends into doing with you, isn't it?"

"Uh…" Duo paused, "Yeah." 

"Then I'll come too!" Hilde stood up.

"WHAT???" Duo cried in shock, "Uh…you can't!"

'Why not?"

" 'cause it's not appropriate for you!"

"Hmmmm…I'm starting to get suspicious…" Hilde narrowed her eyes.

Duo threw up his in surrender, "OH! I GIVE UP! I CAN'T HIDE SUCH THINGS FROM YOU! We overheard Heero talking with Relena. She invited him to her house this weekend and I heard they're gonna be in her new hot tub or somethin' and well, I just wanted to see what would happen!" Duo ran over and hugged Hilde.

"OH!" Hilde said as if it were no big deal, "Wow. Uh…you see," she sweat-dropped, "I just got off the phone with Relena and um…she invited me and some other ladies to her house this weekend. I was going to tell you but…"

"Yeah I know." Duo paused, "Did she say anything about me?"

Hilde smirked, " No. I'll let you come along, just as a little surprise for Relena."

"OK!" Duo said happily.

"Well, let's pack!" Hilde smiled, " The shuttle leaves in three hours!"

A few minutes later, Duo and Hilde met the other pilots and the other ladies at the spaceport.

"Why did they have to come?" Wufei whined to no one in particular, "Why must I spend my own weekend trying to make mischief only to have women tag along?"

"Oh come on, Wufei," Sally said as she slapped him on the back, "It's not so bad if you think about it!" 

"Hey where's Dorothy?" Quatre asked aloud.

"She's already on Earth with Relena," said Hilde.

"It's too bad Catherine couldn't make it, huh, Trowa?" Quatre said as he nudged Trowa, who was staring at the people walking by.

"Hm? Hm…" Trowa said. 

"I have the tickets!" Quatre said as he held up an envelope, "Ok, Duo and Hilde! Here's yours!"

"You didn't have to buy them for us!" Hilde said in embarrassment as she took the tickets.

"It's OK!" Quatre said cheerfully, "You can pay me back later! I'm only kidding! It's my treat!"

Duo sighed, "Heh, there's Quatre, for ya. That kindness could get a bit annoying though…" After everyone received their tickets, they proceeded to the gates, but first they had to pass through the metal detectors. 

"Ok, you know the drill," said the security guy, "Please remove all metal objects." Heero nodded and reached into his jacket. Out came his trusty gun, the self-destruct button, several ammo clips, and a grenade. Heero walked through the metal detector.

The security guard stared at Heero's items, "Uh..do you have a license to carry concealed weapons?" Heero pulled out his license. Too bad it was fake. Too bad they didn't know that. The security guard took it and ran it through a scanner, "Ok, you're all set." He handed the card back to Heero, who was already gathering his weapons. 

"Ooh! I'm next!" Quatre called as he walked through the gate after pulling out his pocket watch, belt, keys, and wristwatch. He came out clean. Then came Duo. As he walked through the gate, the alarms sounded. Another guard came over with a sensor and ran it over Duo's body. It blinked when it ran over Duo's braid.

"Sir, please remove all objects." Duo shrugged and pulled out some packs of gum, an entire set of lock picks, a comb, keys and a magnet. The security guards sweat-dropped and returned the items. Then it was Wufei's turn. The alarms didn't go off when he walked through but it did when they checked his luggage.

"Sir, please remove all items from your luggage."

"This is injustice!" Wufei cried, "I spent well over half an hour trying to fit all of my belongings into this little ….box!" After a brief argument, Wufei relented and opened up his luggage. Out came his white swim trunks, some toiletries, a self-destruct button, several sets of 'Wufei style' clothing and what else, but his sword. 

'Uh..sir, you're not allowed to have—"

"I have a license!" Wufei declared as he pulled out his fake 'sword carrying license of justice', as he so fondly called it. Like Heero' s fake license, this one also passed the security check. They allowed Wufei to repack in the corner while they continued checking the other passengers.After almost an hour, everyone but Trowa had gone through. As Trowa walked through the gate, the alarms went off. They ran the sensor over Trowa. It blinked when it ran over Trowa's hair. A guard felt through Trowa's hair and found nothing. Trowa shrugged and picked up his bag while the guards stood there in confusion, trying to figure out what just happened. 

"Hey Trowa!" Duo said as Trowa caught up with them, "Did your hair cause the alarms to go off again?"

Trowa nodded. Duo laughed, "Ha ha! It's great how your hair messes up their sensors!" Before they went to the gate, they stopped at one of those little fast food restaurants to have a quick dinner. Eventually they all got onto the plane. 

"I get the window seat!" Duo shouted as he pushed Sally out of the way.

"Hey Duo!" Sally said as she recovered from the push, "You guys get the middle row, while we get the side seats!"

Duo looked at Sally, then to his ticket, then to the sign above the middle row and then pointed to the row, "You, you mean I gotta spend ten hours sitting next to…."Duo looked around, "Wufei and Trowa?!"

Sally smiled and waved, "Have fun!"

"Hey!" Duo cried, "Just where do you think you're going?"

Sally smiled again and shrugged, "We got first-class tickets from Quatre!" she walked off, leaving five rather upset pilots in the coach section.

"Quatre!" Duo pouted, "Why, man? Why?"

"Because they deserve better!" Quatre stated.

"This is injustice!" Wufei shouted, " Why must the women receive better tickets?"

Quatre smiled sheepishly and sweat-dropped, "Uh…well, um…I can't spend too much on you guys…"

"Why aren't you sitting in first class, then?" Wufei demanded, " You can afford it, can't you? If you can pay for two women then….oh. Only two women…" Wufei decided that he'd said enough. Everyone sat down in the following order: Heero at the left end, followed by Wufei, Duo, and Trowa, leaving Quatre at the right end, which meant, Duo was right smack in the middle. 

"This sucks, man," Duo grumbled as he sat down. 

"Humph!" Wufei snorted, "It was your idea to follow Heero on his little vacation!"

"So?" Duo countered, "You're here too, aren't ya? We didn't force you to come."

Wufei paused, then grumbled, "Yes, you are correct. I came here out of my own free will." All of a sudden, he felt something heavy on his right shoulder. He turned around only to find an already-asleep Duo, who was leaning his head on Wufei's shoulder, while snoring and drooling.

Wufei shoved Duo's head off, "MAXWELL! WAKE UP, YOU WEAK PERSON! WE HAVEN'T EVEN TAKEN OFF YET!"

Duo blinked, "Dude, man. Wha…never mind." He went back to sleep, this time, leaning more towards Trowa. Eventually the shuttle took off.

Meanwhile, up in first class, Sally and Hilde were enjoying themselves in their not-so-cramped seats.

"Hey, do you think the guys are ok?" Hilde asked.

Sally stared out the window, "Yeah, I'm sure their having fun back there."

At that exact moment, Duo had leaned onto Wufei again, doing the same things as before (drooling, snoring) and now he was talking in his sleep.

"Ha ha," Duo said sleepily, "You Leos are no match for the God of Death! Ha ha…"

Quatre looked over Trowa, "Aww….he's sound asleep. Too bad we only just cleared the colony…"

"Oh no," Duo continued sleepily, "It's the evil Wu-Man…everybody run for your lives! Eeeee…" As he said this, he flailed his arms and bopped a sleeping Wufei on the nose. He awoke with a shout, which startled everyone within hearing distance, in other words, the whole shuttle heard him.

"Oh boy," Sally said as she slapped her forehead, "There he goes…"

"Get off of me, you disgusting little weakling!" Wufei shouted as he grabbed Duo and threw him into a sleeping Trowa, who in turn, knocked a not-so-sleepy Quatre into the isle. As for Heero, he continued to sleep, since he would need all of his strength once they got to Relena's. 

"Whoa," Duo rubbed his head, " What was that? Huh?" He saw the enraged Wufei glaring at him, "Uh…help?"

Wufei stood up, "That's it! I've had it!" He moved past the still sleeping Heero and into the isle. He then proceeded to grab Heero and to place Heero in his old seat. After that was done, Wufei plopped down exhaustedly onto Heero's old seat and drifted off. Before he fell asleep, he heard the still sleeping Heero mutter, "Thanks, Wufei." As for Quatre, who sort of landed on top of the guy in the next seat, he quickly apologized, saying that his friends were going through some tough times and that they were prone to do this sort of stuff. Trowa, who got his head knocked into Quatre's head by Duo's head, was still sound asleep. Soon, all was calm. It only stayed that way for about one hour. 

Duo woke up, "Whoa! Wufei! You look different!"

Heero gave Duo one of his glares, "Not funny."

"Hey Trowa!" Quatre said as he gently shook his friend awake, "Are you ok?"

Trowa lifted his head and blinked when he saw the ice pack on Quatre's head, "Your head…"

Quatre pointed to his head and grinned sheepishly, "Oh this? Heh heh…well, I kinda had a little mishap, remember?"

Trowa nodded and went back to sleep.

"Whoa! Hang on, Trowa," Quatre suddenly said, "Does your head hurt or anything."

Trowa shook his head as he continued sleeping. 

Suddenly everyone (almost) was awakened by Duo's stomach. 

"Heh heh heh…" Duo grinned, "I guess I'm hungry!"

"Bah!" Duo heard Wufei say, "You had dinner three hours ago!"

"So? I used up all of my energy arguing with you!" Duo protested. Then he spotted Hilde walking towards them.

"Hey guys!" Hilde said cheerfully, "I just came to check on you guys! Huh?" She stopped to observe the scene. There was Quatre with an ice pack on his head, leaning on Trowa as they slept. Then there was Duo, who was looking in everyone's bags for a bite to eat. Then there was Heero, who, like Trowa, sat there with his arms crossed and head leaned forward, asleep. Finally there was Wufei, who was glaring at no one in particular as he sat there with his arms folded.

"Uh…what happened?" Hilde asked, "Did you guys fight again?"

Duo rubbed the back of his head, "Uh…well, uh…he started it!" He pointed at Wufei.

"INJUSTICE!" Wufei screamed, " WHY WOULD I START SUCH SILLY ARGUMENTS???"

Duo stood up and pointed at him, "Well, you were the one who complained about my sleeping habits!"

Wufei stood up and pointed at Duo, "Well, you're the one with the annoying sleeping habits!" Hilde took this opportunity to walk quickly back to first class. 

"GUYS! PLEASE SHUT UP!" Quatre cried as he stood up and flailed his arms, "TROWA AND I ARE TRYING TO SLEEP HERE!"

"Uh…Quatre," Duo said.

"WHAT, DUO???" Quatre said rather angrily.

"Uh…you kind of left out Heero, over here." Duo pointed to the once sleeping, now glaring Heero.

"SO??? WHO CARES??? IF I HAVE TO SPEAK TO YOU GUYS ONE MORE TIME, THEN I'LL…I'LL…" the expression on Quatre's face dramatically changed, " Heh heh hee hee ha ha---BWAH HA HA HA!" He flailed his arms wildly, "I'LL DESTROY YOU ALL!!! WAH HA HA HA! AND THERE IS NOTHING YOU CAN DO ABOUT IT!!!" 

Suddenly Trowa woke up, "Uh? Quatre?"

"Oh, please excuse my rude interruption of your sleep, Trowa," Quatre said, "Uh…I'LL DESTROY YOU ALL! HA HA HA HA!!!" 

"Quatre," Trowa murmured.

"Uh…yeah?" Quatre seemed to calm down.

"Stop, you're scaring the children." As if on cue, a baby began to cry in the background, "Besides," Trowa shrugged, "You're starting to remind me of Lady Une."

Quatre gasped, "Oh my gosh! You really think so, Trowa?"

Trowa nodded.

Quatre turned around and announced to everyone, "Ladies and Gentlemen, please excuse our rude behavior. We have been going through some rough times and uh…please bear with us." He sat down, thoroughly embarrassed by his and his friends' behavior. Duo and Wufei sat down too, embarrassed by their behavior also. 

Sally ran up to the now almost asleep pilots, "Hey man! What happened? We heard Quatre yell and---"

Wufei stood up, enraged, "SILENCE, WOMAN! SOME OF US ARE TRYING TO SLEEP HERE!"

"WELL EXCUSE ME!" Sally shouted back as she ran back up to first class. 

All was calm again, for about eight more hours. Then it was 'feeding time' for the passengers. The stewardess walked down the aisle with the cart, asking what they wanted for breakfast.

"I will have the pancakes." Wufei declared. Heero nodded. Duo got some scrambled eggs with sausages. Trowa and Quatre had gotten some toast and a muffin. 

"Yummy, yummy, yummy!" Duo sang as he ate his breakfast.

"Duo, shut up." Heero growled as he cut his pancakes. The rest of breakfast went by uneventfully. About 45 minutes from landing, Duo had the sudden urge to go to the bathroom. 

"Whoa, watch out, Heero, move, Wufei!" Duo said as he slowly moved past them. 

"Aaauuugh!" Wufei yelled not so loudly, "Get your rear end out of my face!"

Duo ran down the aisle to the lavatories. Unfortunately, both were occupied. Duo considered running back and trying the ones on the other side, but, it was just so close and he had to go really badly. Soon, Duo's urge got a little stronger. Duo tried hopping up and down and whistling. That didn't work. He tried looking out the window, but all he could see was the ocean, which reminded him of water, which in turn reminded him of going to the bathroom. Soon, he couldn't take it any longer. Duo banged on both of the stalls, "HEY BUDDY! I'M DYIN' OUT HERE! IF YOU DON'T HURRY UP, I'LL END UP MAKIN' A MESS ON THE FLOOR!" Suddenly to his relief, he heard two flushes, the sound of the faucet and the sound of the door unlocking. Out stepped who else, but Sally and Hilde.

"Good morning, Duo!" Hilde said cheerfully.

Duo shoved Hilde out of the way and leapt into the stall, "Sorry, baby!" They heard Duo call, "Aaaaahhh…that feels gooooodddd…." Sally and Hilde sweat-dropped and returned to their seats. As Duo was washing up, the captain came over the comm. system, "This is your captain speaking. We are about to enter the atmosphere. Please fasten your seat belts and please refrain from using the lavatories until we have cleared the atmosphere." 

Duo felt the shuttle shake and felt it become a bit warmer, "Oh crap. I'm stuck in the stall." 

Meanwhile. Quatre looked around, "Hey, isn't Duo back from the bathroom, yet?" 

"Who cares?" he heard Wufei shout above the roar of the shuttle entering the atmosphere. 

Duo grabbed the walls for support as the shuttle continued its descent. Suddenly he got a not-so-bright idea, "Screw this!" he thought, "I may never get another chance to do this!" He opened the door.

"Where is Maxwell?" Wufei shouted, "It can't take this long just to take a ----what the #^%$???"

"Wee hee hee!" Duo laughed as he slid down the aisle (The shuttle was tilted at a 52 degree angle). 

"I wonder how the guys are doing." Hilde wondered aloud just as Duo slid past them, "WHAT??? DUO???"

"Bye, Hilde!" Duo waved, "HEADS UP!" Several people jumped out of his way as he continued down. He finally crashed into the cockpit door, "Woo hoo! That was fun! Oh crap! Security!" Duo got up and tried to scamper back up. Since the shuttle was tilted, it proved to be very difficult. Suddenly the shuttle cleared the atmosphere and the shuttle leveled out. Duo was busy crawling on his hands and knees when it leveled out and this caused him to tumble forward. He continued tumbling back until he crashed into the lavatories in the back, "Hi guys!" Duo said as he got up.

"Duo!" Quatre cried, "What the heck did you just do?"

Duo rubbed his head, "Heh, I had some fun. You guys should try it! Now if you'll excuse me, Wufei and Heero, I must return to my seat!"

"YOU IDIOT!" Wufei cried, "WE'VE ALREADY LANDED!"

"Oh." Duo sweat-dropped, "That must explain why we've stopped moving." 

As they walked out of the gate, they saw Pagan with Relena, waiting for them.

"HEERO!" Relena shouted as she ran up to give Heero a hug. Heero just gave her one of his, "Hnnnn…"s. 

"Hi, Ms. Relena!" Quatre waved.

Relena stopped, "Oh my, hello Quatre! HUH???" She saw Trowa, Duo and Wufei, "Wha…wha…wha…" 

Duo raised his arms, "Surprise! Happy to see us? No? Thought so." He pretended to look dejected and slowly walked back to the gate.

Relena turned a bit pale but then called out, "Uh…I'm happy to see you guys too! What a uh…um…unexpected surprise…" Duo turned around, smiled, and ran back to the group.

"BAH! A SURPRISE IS SUPPOSED TO BE UNEXPECTED, WOMAN!" Wufei shouted. Everyone else sweat-dropped. They all got their luggage and went to the car. 

"Uh…we're supposed to pile into that?" Duo pointed to Relena's little pink car. 

Relena sweat-dropped, "Ah…uh…you see, I had only planned for Sally, Hilde and Heero to come and uh…"

"THAT'S OK!" Quatre called from a pay phone, "I can get transportation for the rest of us!" Within fifteen minutes, a convoy of armored vehicles with Maguanacs pulled up in front of the spaceport. 

Rasid gestured to the awaiting armored truck, "This way, Master Quatre…and friends." The other four guys climbed into the truck and they followed Relena's pink car.Soon they arrived at Relena's mansion. 

"Shall we stay with you, Master Quatre?" Rasid asked.

"No thank you, Rasid. You guys go and take a break." Quatre smiled. Rasid bowed and the convoy took off. 

PART II: GETTING SETTLED 

** **

"Wow." Duo said as he stared at the house, " I could get lost in this place!"

"Let's go inside!" Quatre said as they ran inside the house. Inside, Quatre had a shocking surprise waiting for him.

"Hello, Quatre Raberba Winner," said a tall, blond girl.

"Uh…" Quatre stopped, "Hello, Dorothy Catalonia." 

"Whoa! You're here too?" Quatre heard Duo say.

"Yes, Ms. Relena invited me too." He heard another familiar voice say.

Quatre turned around, "Ms. Noin!" he called happily as he gave her a hug. 

Noin sweat-dropped when she saw Zechs standing at the foot of the staircase, staring at them. 

"Uh…it's nice to see you again, Quatre." Noin said politely.

**...**

"Where's my room?" Duo asked aloud.

Hilde giggled, "You get to sleep with me!"

"Not again!" Duo said jokingly.

"INJUSTICE!" Wufei roared, "WHY MUST I BUNK WITH A WOMAN???"

Sally lightly punched Wufei in the shoulder, "C'mon, Wufei, it won't be so bad!"

"I wanna bunk with Trowa!" Quatre called out. Trowa shrugged.

"Hey, Quatre," Duo said, "Why is it, that every time we have to spend the night together, you end up with Trowa?"

"Why, it's for several reasons." Quatre said as-a-matter-of-factly, "You see, bunking with either you or Wufei wouldn't be good for me, since I know your sleeping habits. Plus, uh…" Quatre paused, then leaned closer to whisper, "I'm kinda scared of Dorothy."

Duo whispered back, "Oh yeah, I know! Those eyebrows really-HEY! HOW DID DOROTHY GET INTO THIS PICTURE???" 

Quatre sweat-dropped, "uh…well, I would have mentioned Heero but he's most likely to spend the night with Relena!"

At that very moment, Heero was busy getting settled in Relena's room. 

"Uh…Heero," Relena began, "If you don't mind at all, um…would you like to share the bed with me, since I don't want you sleeping on the floor!"

"Why couldn't I just sleep with Dorothy or someone else?" Heero asked as he began assembling a machine gun from his suitcase.

"Well, why wouldn't you want to sleep with me? I don't snore or anything!" Relena protested, "And why Dorothy?"

Heero continued assembling his guns, "If I sleep with you, then you'll end up squeezing me as you sleep."

"So? What's wrong with that?"

"It gets annoying, plus I can't breathe properly,"

"Well," Relena said as she put her hands on her hips in frustration, "It gets rather cold here around this time of year!"

After everyone was settled in, they all went downstairs for lunch. 

"Hey, where's the buffet?" Duo asked as he wandered around the dining hall, "I'M LOST!!! Heh heh…just kidding."

"Duo!" Hilde called, "Come eat your lunch!" Lunch consisted of a make-it-yourself P.B.J sandwich and a carton of juice.

"This wasn't exactly what I was expecting for lunch," Duo grumbled as he ate his sandwich.

"Humph!" Wufei said as he sipped his juice, "Where's your 'yummy' song?"

Relena sweat-dropped as she spoke to everyone, "Everyone, please excuse the lameness of the meal. The cooks won't be here until around four but at least you'll get some decent food then."

After lunch, everyone went outside into the garden to find something to do. After feeling the cold winter air, they decided that they should only remain out there for about twenty minutes. Zechs and Noin decided to sit by the giant water fountain and talk a bit. Dorothy wanted to challenge someone to a fencing match but no one wanted to. 

"Let's play golf!" Duo suggested.

"How about croquet?" Quatre asked as he looked around.

" Let's shoot some hoops!" Wufei shouted.

"Huh? You know how to play basket ball?" Duo said in mock surprise.

"Hey!" Quatre cried, "Where'd Trowa go?" Duo and Wufei shrugged and Quatre took off to find Trowa. Duo and Wufei looked at each other, shrugged again and ran after Quatre. They found Quatre and Trowa inside, looking over the indoor pool.

"So, you wanna swim, Trowa?" Duo asked as he walked up to the two.

"Hm, swimming is good for you." Wufei stated as he caught up. 

"Ok." Trowa said as he walked away. 

"Hold on, Trowa!" Quatre called out, "Where are you going?"

"I'll go swimming." Trowa said as he continued out the door. 

"I'll come too!" Wufei said as he ran after Trowa, leaving Duo and Quatre there.

Duo shrugged, "Heh, I guess I'll go find my swim trunks. Hey, Quatre, go get Heero, maybe he'll want a nice swim." Duo ran off, leaving Quatre to go find Heero.

Quatre found Heero with Relena on the balcony looking over the garden.

Relena sighed, "It's such nice weather, right Heero?"

Heero glared at some bird in the sky and 'Hnnnn…'ed. 

Quatre walked up to the pair, "Um…excuse me, Heero?"

Heero turned to Quatre, "What is it?"

"Uh…the guys want to know if you'd like to go swimming with them." Quatre said. 

"Roger." Heero said quickly as he followed Quatre. As soon as he thought he was out of Relena's sight, he bolted to Relena's room to grab his swim trunks.

Quatre sweat-dropped as he watched Heero run, "Oh Heero, don't do that. You'll hurt her feelings."

As for Relena, she caught a glimpse of Heero as he ran by the balcony, "Oh Heero, what's wrong?"

A few minutes later, the five pilots (minus Quatre) assembled in the indoor pool in their swim trunks. 

"Hey," Duo said as he looked around, "Where's Quatre?"

"I'm…over here." Quatre called. Everyone turned around. Quatre was standing in the door to the changing room.

"Well, aren't you coming in?" Duo called to Quatre.

"Uh…sorry. I can't" Quatre answered hastily.

"Why not?"

"Uh…I'd rather not talk about it." 

"Fine! C'mon guys, weeee heee!" Duo jumped into the pool, "OH CRAP! IT"S FREEZING!" 

"HA!" Wufei shouted as he slowly waded into the pool, "I'm not weak like you! I can take such coldness!"

"Oh yeah? Then why are you coming in from the shallow area and not just dive in like me?" Duo called back.

Wufei paused. Duo had a point, but he didn't let that show, "Hm…It's because I am a patient person, unlike you!" 

Meanwhile, Quatre looked out the window. He tried to ignore the splashing sounds and Duo's laughter.

"Quatre," he heard someone growl.

Quatre turned around, "Heero! I…"

Heero stared at Quatre, "Quatre, I thought you were going to swim with the others."

Quatre turned red, "Uh…Heero, I can't…"

"Why not?"

Quatre turned even redder, "Uh…you see…oh boy… umm…I can't swim…"

Heero grunted, "Understood." He walked to the pool.

"Hey Heero!" Quatre called, "You won't tell, will you?"

Heero continued walking, "Nope." 

Quatre, after feeling a bit left out, decided to do something about his little 'handicap'. He ran back to his room and searched for his swim trunks that he had brought in case. It was not exactly your average pair of swim trunks. For one thing, it was purple, but it was not that Quatre didn't like purple. Another was the fact that it had his name written around the waist in neon green. He felt it was unnecessary to have his name put on his swim trunks. However, since his sisters gave it to him as a birthday gift, he had no choice but to use it and now was as good as a time to use it. 

Quatre walked up to the edge of the pool with a towel draped around his waist, "Uh…hello everyone."

"Hey Quatre!" Duo called from the other side of the pool, "Take off the towel and come on in!" 

"Quatre," he heard Trowa say, "Come in, there's nothing dangerous here."

Quatre looked down, "Trowa! Uh…ok, I'll come in…" He walked to the shallow end of the pool and slowly dipped his foot in, "Aaugh! The water's cold!"

"You'll get used to it once you're in for a few minutes." He heard Heero say.

"Ok, here goes." Quatre took a deep breath as he removed the towel and waded in.

"That's right! Be a strong person and wade your way in!" Wufei shouted. Quatre continued deeper into the pool. Soon the water was up to his shoulders and he decided that it was a good place to stop. Everyone else continued to do what ever they were doing before. As for Quatre, he just stood there. 

"Quatre, aren't you going to swim?" Trowa asked as he waded up to Quatre.

Quatre finally cracked. He began flailing his arms, splashing water everywhere, "OH! I GIVE UP! IT'S NO USE HIDING SUCH THINGS FROM YOU GUYS!" Everybody stopped. Quatre continued, " I CAN'T SWIM! SO WHAT??? I HAD TO LIVE IN THE DESERT AND THERE WAS LITTLE WATER SO I DIDN'T LEARN HOW TO SWIM!"

"Uh…what about your mansion in the colonies? Didn't you have a swimming pool?" Duo asked.

"NO! WE DIDN'T HAVE A POOL! At least, I don't remember ever seeing one…" Quatre stopped. 

"It's ok, Quatre," Trowa said, "We'll teach you."

"Yeah!" Wufei shouted enthusiastically, "I can teach you my famous dive of justice!"

Duo called out, "Hey! What's so special about a dive??? You fall into the water, period. There's no fancy trick to that!"

"HA! That's what a weakling like you thinks!" Wufei cried as he got out of the water to demonstrate. He climbed up the diving tower, "Behold my powerful abilities!" He leapt off the tower.As he fell, he managed to do three twirls in the air. Wufei then fell into the water with a little splash.

"WOW!" Quatre clapped, "That was great!"

"HA!" said Wufei as he burst out from the water, "Can you do that, Maxwell?"

Duo shrugged, "Uh…no." The other pilots began their little lesson. It wasn't exactly easy teaching Quatre how to swim. He constantly insisted on wearing a float even though he was in chin-deep water. He also wanted a life ring nearby. Furthermore, he kept clinging to Trowa. Their little lessons continued through the whole afternoon. Soon, the sun was setting and Relena had sent Noin to fetch the boys. 

"Hello everyone!" Noin said as she walked in, "Ms. Relena told me to tell you-"

"Ms. Noin!" Quatre waved, "Look at what I can do!" He did a doggy-paddle from one end of the pool to the other.

Noin clapped, "Uh…good job. Did they teach you?"

"Yeah! They're great friends!" Quatre beamed with pride. 

Noin spoke up again, "You guys, Ms. Relena sent me to tell you that it's almost dinner time."

"Great!" Duo shouted, "I'm starved!" However, as soon as they got out of the pool, they all jumped back in. 

"C'mon, guys! Ms. Relena's waiting!" Noin said impatiently.

"BAH! It is cold out here, woman!" Wufei shook his fist, "I'd rather eat in here, where it's warmer!"

Quatre walked out, "Come on! We can't keep Ms. Relena waiting! And I thought you were hungry, Duo!" Everyone watched Quatre run into the locker room and then looked at each other. If Quatre could do that, then why couldn't they? The rest of the pilots jumped out and ran to the locker room. 

"Oh man, I'm freezin' my butt off!" Duo whined as the six walked out of the indoor pool. Outside, it was already dark and it started to snow (It's in the middle of December, remember).

"Aw @^%$." Duo grumbled as they trudged inside. 

"Now hurry up and get ready." Noin instructed once they reached the staircase, "Ms. Relena plans for us to dance after dinner, so dress nicely." The pilots nodded and ran upstairs. A few minutes later, down came five cleaned, neatly dressed Gundam pilots. 

"Hey, is my hair ok?" Duo whispered to Quatre, who was looking himself over in a nearby mirror, "Uh…yeah, it looks fine." They entered the dining hall. 

PART III: DINNER AND DANCE

Unfortunately for them, they were the last ones there. Everybody was dressed in suits or dresses and they were already seated at the large table.

"Heero!" Relena called as she carefully walked over to him so she wouldn't break her high-heels, "You look very handsome in that suit!" 

Heero stared, "Hnnnn? Oh, you look…," He paused for a proper word, "lovely tonight."

Relena gave a small gasp. It was probably the first time he'd ever said anything nice about her, "Why thank you Heero! Do you like my new shoes?" She stepped back so he could see her red high-heels. 

"Yeah." He sat down.

"Duo!" Hilde waved, "Over here!" 

Duo walked over to Hilde, "Uh…wow. I've never seen you in a dress before!"

Hilde shrugged, "So? I've never seen you in a suit before."

"Hey Trowa," Quatre whispered, "Do you see—"

Trowa tapped Quatre on the shoulder and gestured to his left.

Quatre peeked over Trowa's shoulder and quickly hid in front of Trowa, "Oh my god!" Quatre gasped, "She's here! I mean not that I didn't know that. I meant that I didn't know she was so close to where we're standing and –"

"Good evening, Quatre Raberba Winner," Dorothy said.

Quatre gave a little squeak and came out from in front of Trowa, "Uh…good evening, Dorothy. Uh…my, you look uh…nice."

Dorothy smiled deviously, "So do you." 

"Hey! Wufei!" Sally called from the other end of the table, "Come sit by me!"

"NO, I SHALL NOT!" Wufei called back, "THIS IS A TIME FOR EATING, NOT SOCIALIZING!"

"SO? WE CAN TALK ONCE WE'RE DONE EATING!" 

"I WILL NOT!"

"Hey man," Duo leaned over to Wufei, "Go sit by her so she can shut up, please!"

"Humph!" Wufei looked away, "You do it!"

"No." 

"Then you shouldn't complain!" Eventually, everyone got their fancy dinner and they ate with little interruption, except for when they opened the Champaign bottle and the cork flew off and bounced off of several people's heads and landed in Milliardo's cup. After dinner, everyone assembled in the grand ballroom. 

Relena walked up to the giant stereo, "Ok everyone, now we dance!"

"Couldn't we have some time to rest or something? " Duo called out. Relena ignored him and played the C.D. Classical music blasted from the speakers. 

"HEY WUFEI!" Sally shouted above the loud music, "WANNA DANCE WITH ME???"

"WHAT?" Duo shouted, "YOU HAVE TO GO PEE???"

"TROWA! SAVE MEEE!" Quatre cried as he saw Dorothy walk in his direction.

"SAVE HILDE?" Sally shouted to Quatre.

"ZECHS!" Noin screamed, "ZECHS! CAN YOU HEAR ME?"

"Huh? WHAT'S NEXT? IS THAT WHAT YOU SAID???" Milliardo turned around, as if in a daze. 

"TURN THE BLASTED MUSIC DOWN, WOMAN!" Wufei roared. Relena didn't hear since she had her hands covering her ears and she didn't want to remove them.

As for Heero and Trowa, they had braved the intense music and managed to turn down the volume without destroying anything. 

"HEY! I'M BLIND" Duo shouted after the music was turned down to normal levels, "WAIT! NO, I'M, DEAF!!! WAAAGH!!!" He began running around, clutching his ears.

"DUO!" Hilde screamed.

Duo stopped, "Uh…yes?"

Relena blushed as she stood there, wondering who turned the volume all the way up on her speakers. She decided to worry about that later. She 'ran' over to Heero, "HEERO! LET'S DANCE!" If she could've seen the back of his head, she would have seen that big sweat drop running down his head. Heero nodded and Relena dragged him to the dance floor, giggling the whole way.

"TROWA!! TROWA! SAVE MEEE!!!" Quatre continued to cry as Dorothy walked closer. 

"Don't run away from me," Dorothy said in an evil sort of way, " I won't hurt you. Tee hee!" 

Just as she was about to grab Quatre, Trowa walked up and tapped Dorothy on the shoulder, "Excuse me, would you care to dance?"

Dorothy's eyes lit up, "WOW! REALLY???"

Trowa raised an eyebrow and nodded. Dorothy squealed with delight and dragged Trowa to the dance floor. As Trowa was being dragged away, he gave Quatre a little salute.

Duo and Wufei ran up to Quatre, "Hey man, where's Trowa?"

"Poor Trowa…"a tear ran down Quatre's sad face, "It's all my fault! It's all my fault! If I wasn't scared of Dorothy, then poor Trowa wouldn't have to be there right now!"

"Where?" Wufei demanded.

Quatre sadly pointed to Trowa and Dorothy dancing, "There…"

"Uh…he seems to be having fun." Duo scratched his head.

"NO!" Quatre lightly sobbed, " He's just doing that to be polite!"

"HEY! TROWA'S SMILING!" Wufei shouted in surprise. Suddenly everyone stopped dancing and looked at Trowa. Indeed, there was a little smile on Trowa's face. 

Quatre ran up to Trowa and gave him a hug, "Trowa! You're all right! Sorry about that little thing back there! I won't put you in such a dangerous situation again!"

"WHAT???" Dorothy pulled Quatre off of Trowa, "WHAT ARE YOU IMPLYING, QUATRE WINNER???"

Quatre sweat-dropped, ""Uh…well...you see, I…uh…I…I"

"HE MEANS YOUR FREAKISH EYEBROWS FRIGHTEN HIM, WOMAN!" Wufei shouted as he marched forward.

Dorothy dropped Quatre and turned to face Wufei, "ARE YOU INSULTING MY EYEBROWS???"

"WUFEI!!!" Quatre cried out happily.

Wufei continued walking, "OF COURSE I AM! YOUR EYEBROWS ARE A SAFETY HAZARD! WHY, YOU COULD POKE SOMEONE'S EYES OUT WITH THOSE!"

"YEAH!" Duo cheered from the other side with Hilde, "GO, WU-MAN!"

"SILENCE, YOU!" Dorothy pointed at Duo.

"INJUSTICE!" Wufei roared, "THAT'S MY PHRASE! HOW DARE YOU STEAL ONE OF MY LINES!!! "

"HOW DARE YOU INSULT MY EYEBROWS!!! "Dorothy and Wufei started walking towards each other.

"WAIT!" Relena called out, "STOP! NO FIGHTING! THIS IS SUPPOSED TO BE A SOCIAL GATHERING! NOT A BATTLEFIELD! I WILL TOLERATE SUCH BEHAVIOR NO MORE!" She looked very close to tears, "I WILL NOT LET YOU RUIN MY TIME WITH HEERO!" 

"We'll settle this later! Tee hee!" Dorothy smiled as she went off to find someone else. 

"HUMPH!" Wufei snorted. 

As soon as Dorothy was out of earshot, Duo and Quatre cheered, "YAY WUFEI!" 

"HA! I HAVE TRIUMPHED!" Wufei said proudly, "I HAVE STOOD UP TO THE WOMAN THAT YOU ALL FEAR SO MUCH…" Wufei's voice trailed off. He paused before yelling at Duo and Quatre, "THIS IS INJUSTICE! YOU MEAN YOU TWO ARE AFRAID OF A WOMAN???" Duo and Quatre nodded, "No shame, man," Duo said. As Wufei began one of his rants, everyone else was dancing.

"Heero, remember the last time we danced?" Relena whispered in his ear.

"No." Heero lied.

Relena giggled, "It was at my class party and O.Z. attacked. Then you came and saved me in your shiny Gundam!"

"So?"

"It's just soooo romantic, that's all."

"No it isn't."

"Don't argue. Just dance!"

"Hey! Wufei!" Sally ran up to the group, holding her high heels in her hands, "Now do you want to dance?"

Wufei relented, "Fine! If it makes you leave us alone!" 

"Stop stepping on my feet, woman!" Wufei shouted as they danced.

"Don't yell in my ear!" Sally shouted back. The rest of the night went by uneventfully. Then they went to bed. 

No one slept well that night.

"Hey, Trowa…" Quatre said as he stared at the ceiling.

"Don't worry, Quatre, she won't come in. The door's locked." Trowa said from the other side of the room.

"THIS IS INJUSTICE!" Wufei roared, "HOW COME THERE IS ONLY ONE BED IN THIS ROOM???"

Sally stared at him, "Uh…you just noticed that?"

Wufei paused, "YES!"

"Hey Hilde!" Duo said as he walked over to her bed, "Can I sleep with you?

Hilde looked up, "Oh sure! Come on in!"

Duo rubbed his hands together, "Woo hoo. It's gonna be really cold tonight, I heard."

"HEERO! NO! SLEEP IN THE BED!" Relena cried as she walked over to pick up the sleeping Heero lying on the floor, "Nnnngghh! Wow. You're heavy."

Heero muttered as he slept, "Stop."

Finally she got an idea. She went over to her bed, grabbed the pillows and blankets and lay them down next to Heero, "Fine! I'll sleep here too."

Heero opened his eyes, "If you're going to sleep down here, fine. I'll sleep on the bed."

Relena sighed as she watched Heero climb into her bed, "Oh, Heero…why???"

"Zechs!" Noin called, "Stop shining your helmet and go to sleep!"

"No, wait! I'm almost done! Oh…" Milliardo walked out of the bathroom, holding his helmet, "I'm out of polish for my helmet. Can I borrow your nail polish?"

Noin turned over, "In the morning!"

Milliardo looked at his helmet and then at Noin, "But I want to finish it now!"

Noin sighed heavily and threw a pillow at Milliardo. It bounced off of his face and landed beside him.

Milliardo knew better than to get Noin angry. He put down his helmet on a nearby table and whispered to his helmet, "Don't worry, I'll finish shining you tomorrow."

PART IV: THE MORNING 

The next day, everyone met downstairs for breakfast. 

"Hey, everyone! Look!" Quatre pointed out the window, "It snowed last night!"

"Woo hoo!" Duo shouted, "Crap! I don't have anything thick enough to stay outside!"

"We're stuck in here." Heero said.

Hilde slowly walked up to Duo, rubbing her stomach, "Ooh…"

Duo turned around, "Hilde! Did ya sleep well last night?"

Hilde glared, "No, 'cause you hogged the blankets and your leg was over my stomach the whole time!"

Duo sweat-dropped, "Oops."

Wufei walked up, "Did he drool, snore and talk in his sleep, too?"

Hilde shook her head, "Nope, he was too tired to do that."

"INJUSTICE!" Wufei shouted, "I'M SITTING FAR AWAY FROM DUO ON THE WAY BACK!" His shouts echoed throughout the large room.

Quatre joined the group, "So, what do you want to do today, I mean, we're practically snowed in!"

"Heero!" everyone heard Relena cry as she walked towards the group, "Good morning!"

" G' morning." Heero muttered as he stared outside.

"Let's go eat." Trowa suddenly said. He walked to the kitchen.

After an unusually peaceful breakfast, the pilots sat in the living room, staring off into space.

"What do you wanna do?" Duo asked as he rolled around on the floor.

"Swimming?" Quatre suggested.

"Too cold." Trowa said.

"Let us meditate." Wufei said as he sat up.

Heero's hands shook, "Must…destroy…something…"

Duo looked at Heero, "Oh come on! Every day, it's 'destroy this' and 'destroy that'! Can't you even stand five minutes without wanting to destroy something?"

"No." Heero glared.

"Let's race." Trowa suddenly suggested.

"OK!" Quatre said happily, "I'm in!"

"BAH!" Wufei said, as he got into a meditation pose, "Too noisy!"

Duo sighed, "I guess I'm in. There's nothing else to do."

"Heero!" Relena walked in, "Want to do something together?"

"Hnnnn…" Heero glared at the floor.

Relena sat down next to Heero, "You want to destroy something, don't you?"

"Yeah." Heero muttered. Meanwhile, the others got up to find a place to race.

"Hey Heero!" Duo said as he walked out, "Come join us if you want."

Heero considered his options. He could either go with Duo and race down some hallway, acting like an idiot, or he could spend the morning, possibly the whole day, with Relena. However, he also noted that if he spent some time with Relena, then hopefully that would satisfy her and she wouldn't bother him for the rest of the day. On the other hand, she might take this as a form of encouragement and she might become even more persistent.

Heero got up, "I'll be back," and followed Duo.

Relena followed, "Wait, Heero! I'll come too!" They began walking through the mansion, looking for a suitable place to race. Finally they decided on racing in the main hall, since it was the longest.

"Ok," Duo said as he looked down the hall, "Who am I up against?"

"I'll race," Trowa walked up. 

"Hang on!" Quatre said as he ran to the other side of the hall, "OK! FIRST ONE TO GET THIS…" he paused to pull out a handkerchief from his pocket, "WINS! OK? READY? GO!!!" Trowa and Duo took off down the hall in their socks. About half way down the hall, they decided to use their socks to their advantage by sliding down the marble hallway.

"Oh dear," Relena said as she watched them, "This is dangerous. They shouldn't be doing—(crash)…this…ooh…why???" Apparently Duo had crashed into Trowa and the two slid into Quatre, who in turn, crashed into a door.

"OW! Ha ha!" Quatre laughed as he rubbed the back of his head, "Whoa…TROWA! ARE YOU OK???" Quatre got up and ran over to Trowa who had already gotten up.

"Yes, I'm fine." Trowa looked at Duo and raised an eyebrow.

"Hey Duo!" Quatre shook Duo, who was lying on his back, "Are you ok?"

Duo sat up, "Oh man! That was fun! Let's do it again! Hey wait, who won?"

Quatre looked around for his little hankie, "Uh…I don't know…where could it be?"

"Here." Heero handed Quatre his handkerchief, "I caught it when you guys fell."

Quatre sweat-dropped, "Uh…thanks, Heero."

Duo rubbed his head, "Hey Trowa, how about we call this a tie?"

Trowa shrugged, "Ok."

"Next are Wufei and Heero!" Quatre said.

"WAIT!" Relena stepped in, "No more racing! I don't want you boys hurting yourselves and each other here!"

"BAH!" Wufei snorted, "We're strong! We don't get hurt easily!"

" My nose is bleeding." Duo said as he grabbed his nose.

"WHAT???" Wufei turned around.

"Humph!" Relena said obnoxiously, "Told you!"

Duo removed his hands and laughed, "HA HA! Fooled ya!"

"Grrrrrrr…" Wufei and Relena growled.

Quatre sweat-dropped, "Uh…why don't we find something else to do, then?"

"Like what? Tag?" Wufei said sarcastically.

"Heeeeyyyy…." Duo stood up, "Great idea!"

A few minutes later, the pilots were running away from Relena.

"Run!" Duo cried jokingly, "She's gonna—hey! She's only going after Heero!"

Quatre stopped, "Oh dear…Relena's defeating the purpose of tag!"

Relena struggled to keep up with Heero, "Heero! (pant pant), don't (pant pant) run so fast!"

"He's only walking, woman!" Wufei shouted.

Noin walked up, "Ms. Relena, maybe you should take a break."

Relena smiled and tapped Noin's shoulder, "Tag. You're it!" Relena smiled and skipped away.

Noin stopped, "But…I…(sigh) ready or not, here I come." She ran after the boys.

"Hi, Ms. Noin!" Quatre waved as he ran for the kitchen.

"I'll get you guys!" Noin laughed as she ran after Quatre. Suddenly a door opened and Noin slammed into someone.

"OW! I'm sorry! I…" Noin looked to see whom it was, "Zechs! What are you doing?"

Milliardo stood up, holding a box, "It contains one of my back-up helmets. I thought it could come in handy later…"

Noin tilted her head, "Oh? How so?"

Milliardo shrugged, "I don't know. By the way, what are you doing, running around like that?"

Noin blushed, "Uh…I…uh…oh!" Noin tapped Milliardo, "Tag! You're it!" Noin ran off.

Milliardo watched Noin turn a corner and smiled, "Fine. Here goes." He reached into his box and put on his official 'Zechs Merquise Helmet' and ran off to find Noin. About half way down the hall, Milliardo smacked into Dorothy. The force caused the two to bounce off of each other and land on the floor.

Dorothy picked herself up, "Ugh…hello Mr. Milliardo. I see you've got your helmet on."

Milliardo stood up, "Uh…yeah." He paused for a moment before walking up to Dorothy and quickly tapping her, "Tag, you're it." He turned around and ran back up the hall.

Dorothy watched Milliardo run, "Oh…so you want to play, hm? Tee hee!" Dorothy skipped off to find a victim.

Meanwhile, Duo and Quatre had hidden themselves in a closet.

"Hey Duo," Quatre whispered, "This is tag. Not Hide and Seek."

Duo whispered back, "So? Wait…someone's coming…" The door opened.

"Hello Quatre Raberba Winner and Duo Maxwell." Dorothy smiled slyly.

"Oh crap." Duo muttered.

Quatre backed up, "Uh…. hi, Dorothy…I take it you're playing too."

Dorothy smiled, "That's right." She tapped Quatre, "You're it. Tee hee!" She skipped off, "Come and get me, Quatre Winner!" she said teasingly.

Quatre and Duo stood there for a few seconds. Then Quatre reached over and tapped Duo, "Tag. You're it."

Duo tapped Quatre, "You're it."

Quatre tapped Duo, "You're it, again."

"You're it."

"You're it."

"You're it.

"You're it."

Suddenly Wufei walked by the two guys tapping each other and stopped, "BAH! This is no fun!"

"Fine!" Duo tagged Wufei, "You're it." The two guys bolted from their little hidey-hole.

Wufei suddenly realized that he had been caught with his guard down, " INJUSTICE! THERE IS NO HONOR IN ATTACKING A DEFENSELESS OPPONENT!"

"No shame!" Duo called back as they continued running. Meanwhile, Sally and Hilde were walking down the hall when Wufei ran up to them.

"Where's Duo and Quatre?" Wufei demanded.

Sally shrugged, "I dunno, why?"

Hilde looked around, "Maybe he's with the other guys."

Wufei suddenly had an unoriginal idea, "TAG! YOU WEAKLINGS ARE IT!" He ran down the hallway.

Sally and Hilde looked at each other, "There can't be two people who are it, can there?" 

Sally smiled, "Says who?"

Hilde smiled back, "Oh…I see!" The two split up.

Meanwhile, Relena and Heero were walking down the hallway.

"Heero," Relena suddenly spoke up, "When someone who's it shows up, will you protect me?"

Heero continued walking, "Why?"

Relena, who thought he was joking, explained, "Well, you see, I'm like the damsel in distress and it's up the gentleman to protect the lady!"

Suddenly they spotted Sally running from the end of the hallway, "I've found you!"

Relena stopped, "What is it, Sally? Huh? Heero? Come back! Where are you going??? HEY!" Relena stopped when she felt herself get tagged by Sally, "Ooh…why me???" Relena sighed and ran after Sally and Heero. She finally found them and everyone else standing there in the middle of the main hallway.

"Ok," Quatre said aloud, "So we've turned tag into Hide and Seek?" 

"Yeah, since you weaklings keep on hiding!" Wufei said, annoyed.

"OK THEN!" Quatre said, "It's now Hide and Seek! Starting…" He looked at a nearby clock.

"NOW!" Duo suddenly shouted. Everyone ran in different directions, "Relena's it!" 

Relena stopped, "WHAT??? HIDE AND SEEK???" She sighed heavily and walked off to find someone. 

Upstairs, Trowa and Quatre hid in Duo's room, with Duo.

"So, do you think she'll find us?" Quatre asked.

Trowa shrugged, "Perhaps."

Duo jumped onto the bed, "Well, if she does manage to find us, she has to chase us too."

"True." Trowa said as he looked out a window.

"Hey guys!" a voice suddenly said.

"WWWAAAAAGGGHHH!!!" Duo and Quatre screamed. Trowa just raised his eyebrows.

Out from under the bed came a giggling Hilde, "Ha ha ha! You guys screamed like girls!" 

"No we didn't!" Duo said in a girly voice. He reached over and kissed Hilde. 

Meanwhile, Relena was walking down the hallway, still searching for someone. Eventually, she found Wufei, sitting on a table.

"Hurray!" Relena cheered, "I found someone!"

"BAH!" Wufei got off of the table, "You still have to tag the person!"

Relena paused, "Oh…oh yeah!" She ran over to try to tag the Wu-Man. Unfortunately for Relena, he leapt into the air, over her head and ran down the hall, leaving a frustrated Relena.

"Ms. Relena," she heard a voice say.

Relena turned around, "Huh? Oh, Pagan…"

Pagan continued, "Ms. Relena, it is almost lunch time. Shall I call your guests?"

Relena nodded, "Please do." She ran off to find Heero.

A few minutes later, everyone assembled in the dining hall for lunch.

"Hey Wufei!" Sally sat down next to an eating Wufei, "So, where'd you hide?"  
Wufei looked up from his meal and glared, "Silence, woman! Can't you see I'm eating my lunch???"

"Don't talk with your mouth full." Sally whispered, "It's impolite!"

Wufei stopped to sip from his cup, then he continued, "If you must converse with me, do so at a more convenient time!" Sally shrugged and continued eating.

"So, what do you guys want to do after lunch?" Quatre asked Duo and Trowa.

Trowa shrugged.

Duo chewed for a while before answering, " I don't care. I just want to see Heero and Relena in the hot tub."

Quatre sweat-dropped, "I thought so."

"Why don't we all go take a walk in the garden?" Hilde suddenly suggested.

Duo groaned, "In case if you hadn't noticed, it's snowing outside! Plus we don't have any winter clothing!"

Hilde shrugged and smiled, "So? You guys can freeze while I borrow one of Relena's many fur coats."

Duo' s face lit up in mock realization, "Ooh! Good idea! Why don't we run around outside with Relena's fur coats on! We'll act like a bunch of idiots and then—"

Hilde cut him off, "Forget it…"

PART V: THE AFTERNOON 

** **

Heero and the other pilots decided to spend an hour (or maybe ten minutes) in the den, planning on how things would work when Heero and Relena got into the hot tub. 

Duo grabbed a pencil and used it as a pointer to uh…point out stuff on their little diagram, "Ok, let's go over this again. According to the little picture by Wufei,"

Wufei stood up, "It is a work of art!"

"Quiet." Trowa said.

Duo shrugged and continued, "Uh… as I was saying, according to Wufei's _'masterpiece'_, Heero and Relena will exit to the outdoors from…here!" He slapped the paper with the pencil. Unfortunately the tip broke off and it left a little smudge. Oh well.

"BAH!" Wufei suddenly said, "There's only one exit!"

"So? Anyways, they go this way to the tub and sit down," Duo drew a line showing how he thought they would reach the tub, "Now, as they're making their way to the tub, Quatre and Wufei will be---"

Quatre suddenly shouted, "Why do I have to be paired with Wufei??? I wanna be paired with Trowa!" 

Duo made a little face, "Uh…that's how I planned it." He continued to explain.

As Quatre sat down, he whispered to Wufei, "Sorry, Wufei, no offense or anything."

Wufei nodded, "Right…"

Meanwhile, Duo's little plan had become so complicated that he even had himself confused, "Uh…so then this goes here…wait…no, that's Relena,…so Heero goes…OH SCREW THIS!" He crumpled up the paper and tossed it over his shoulder and handed the pencil to Heero in defeat, "Here, man, you come up with something."

Heero took the pencil and walked to Duo's former spot, "My plan is simple. You guys will be in the tub five minutes before Relena and I get there. Once she sees you guys there, she'll ask you to leave. You will then comply and go inside. Once inside, you will precede upstairs to the library. Go to the fifth window to the right. Look down past the tree and you will see the hot tub. From there you can observe as much as you want."

Duo spoke up, "But…we wanna-"

Heero cut him off, "Hear our conversation. I thought of that and went through the trouble of installing a listening device near the tub. You can hear through this." He pulled out a little speaker.

Outside, Relena and Noin stared at the closed door to the den, "I wonder what they're doing?" Noin wondered.

Relena sighed, "Maybe they're playing one of those guy games or maybe they're just planning another silly adventure."

Suddenly they heard Quatre call out, "OK! Let's go and try it out!" The door opened and the two ladies hid behind a corner. As the boys walked out, they heard Duo call out, "I get to be Relena!"

Noin and Relena watched the guys walk away and then sweat-dropped, "I think you're right, Ms. Relena. It must be one of those guy games."

Relena sighed again, "Oh dear, it's still snowing outside. I hope they don't catch a cold!"

At the exact moment, they had reached the door and Duo cried, "Oh man! It's still snowing outside! We'll catch a cold if we go outside!"Everyone stopped to think of a better place to act out their little plan.

Finally Trowa spoke up, "Follow me." He led them to the garage.

"Hey!" Duo whined, "It's still cold in here!"

"So?" Wufei said, annoyed, "At least we have a roof over our heads!"

Trowa walked off and came back a few seconds later with a big box, "This is the tub," Trowa sat the box down.

"OK!" Quatre said excitedly, "Let's get started!"

Heero nodded, "Roger that." Everyone scrambled to into the box. Unfortunately, it wasn't big enough for them to sit down in, so they had to stand.

Once inside the box, Quatre called out, "Hey! We need someone to be Duo!"

Wufei volunteered, "I volunteer to play Maxwell."

"OK!" Quatre said as they moved around a bit.

"Action!" Duo clapped his hands once and grabbed Heero's arm and dragged him to the box, "Come on, Heero!" Duo said in his best girly voice, "It'll be soooo romantic! We can sit there freezing our butts off and ---"

Little did they know, Dorothy was listening to their little skit through the vents, "So, that's their little game, hm? Well, I'll prepare a little surprise for them, tee hee!"

"Hurry, Heero!" Duo continued, "It's cold out here and you know how big of a sissy I am!" Meanwhile Wufei and Quatre couldn't help but laugh at Duo's impersonation. Even Trowa managed a little chuckle.

"Duo," Heero suddenly said.

"What?" Duo said in his regular voice.

Heero pointed to the box, "There's no room for us."

"Uh…ok then," Duo ran off behind Relena's pink car and returned with two medium sized boxes, "Here you go, Heero!" Duo said in his girly voice again, "Tee hee!"

Quatre shuddered, "Uh…Duo, could you please not do that?"

Duo turned around and said in his normal voice, "What? The 'tee hee?"

Quatre shuddered again, "Uh…yeah…"

Duo shrugged and threw his box next to the big box, "Come on, let's get in!" Duo continued with his girly voice, "Oooh! The water's too hot! Wait! It's too cold! Eeeeek!"

Heero glared, "You're pushing it."

Duo stopped 'Eeeek'ing and shrugged, "Yeah, whatever." 

Quatre spoke up, "Good evening, Ms. Relena!"

Duo used his girly voice again, "Oh!!! Good evening, Quatre! Tee hee!"

Quatre shouted and pointed, "THERE YOU GO AGAIN WITH THE TEE HEE'S!" He stopped when he realized that he had said it too, "Ohh…dear…Oh! Anyways, come on in!"

"OK!" Duo giggled as he stepped into his box, "Come on, Heero!"

"BAH!" Wufei suddenly cried, "This is injustice! Sharing a bath with a woman! Humph! Such dishonorable people should—"

Quatre cut him off, horrified at Wufei, "Wufei! You're not really going to say that to her are you?"

Duo spoke up in his girly voice, "Oh! How dare you!" Duo reached over and lightly slapped Wufei across his cheek.

"BAH! Such weak force!" Wufei crossed his arms.

"Hey!" Duo said in his regular voice, "I'm Relena, remember?"

Wufei paused, "I stand corrected."

Trowa nudged Wufei, "What ever happened to Duo?"

Wufei pointed, "Maxwell has become a weak girl…oh…" Wufei paused to think about how he should portray Duo, "Come on in, baby! Yeah!!!"

"Hey!" Duo suddenly said in his regular voice, "You're making me into a pervert!"

Wufei smirked, "I always wanted to portray you as an idiot."

Duo decided to have some fun with this new turn of events, "OK! Here I come!" Duo said in his girly voice and stepped in the box, "HEERO! GET IN! NOW!!!" Duo pointed to Heero's box. Heero growled and stepped in. 

"That's becoming very annoying." Heero muttered.

Duo shrugged, "Hey, I'm just doin' my job!"

Quatre whispered to Trowa, "Do you think it'll turn out like this tonight?"

Trowa shrugged, "Perhaps." 

Quatre shuddered at the thought. 

Duo continued with his fun by removing his shirt, "Oh, don't mind me if I take off my bikini---whoa…never mind." Duo put his shirt back on when he felt the cold air. 

Quatre tapped Duo on the shoulder.

"What???" Duo squeaked, "Ahem…what?"

"Duo, I don't think you should portray Relena that way." Quatre said sternly.

"Uh…why not?" Duo asked.

Quatre put his hands on his hips, "Well, how would you like it if someone was making fun of you and you didn't know it?"

Duo raised an eyebrow, "You know what, you should be Relena! I mean look at you! You're talking like her and you're doing this!" Duo pointed at Quatre's pose.

Quatre paused, "Uh…ok…" He got out of the box and let Duo in.

"Yay!" Duo cheered, "I'm Quatre!"

"Finally!" Wufei breathed out a sigh of relief, "I won't have to play Maxwell anymore!"

Duo turned to Trowa and waved in his face, "HI TROWA! AREN'T YOU GLAD TO SEE ME???"

"DUO!" Quatre shouted, "Leave Trowa alone!"

Duo patted Trowa on the shoulder, "Heh heh…sorry about that, buddy."

Trowa just shrugged.

Quatre began his Relena-impersonation, "Come over here and sit by me, Heero!"

Heero growled as he picked up his box and walked over to where Quatre was standing. He then dropped his box next to his and stood back in.

"Good Heero!" Quatre patted Heero on the head.

Meanwhile upstairs, Relena and the other ladies were laughing at Sally's story about the time Wufei tripped over the cordless phone. 

Noin looked around the room. She saw Milliardo sitting in the corner, looking out the window, with his back to the room. Noin got up and walked over, "Oh, Zechs, you look lonely. Why don't you come over and join us? Hm???" She looked down.

Milliardo was busy shining his helmet, "Maybe later. I have to keep this nice and shiny!" He held it up to the light so that it would seem shinier. 

Noin blocked the glare with her hand, "Uh…ok, come over anytime, Zechs." She sat back down. 

Meanwhile back in the garage, things had gotten a little bit out of hand. Duo got the bright idea of poking hole in a box and putting it on his head, "Hello, everyone! I'm Zechs Merquise! The Helmet Man! Mind if my helmet and I join you?" Duo then walked over to Heero and pushed his shoulder, "Hey Heero! I want another rematch! This time we use swords! Ha ha ha!" 

Heero glared, "That's not funny."

Quatre, who was getting kind of bored by the game, got out of his box, "Ok, I think we get the general idea of what to do tonight. Why don't we all go back to our rooms and uh…take a nap." Quatre walked out of the door. Suddenly he ran back in, "Guys, we've gotta clean up this mess! We can't have anyone suspect anything!" The pilots began putting the boxes back where they thought they came from. Then they went upstairs to take a nap.

About an hour later, Duo awoke to Hilde shaking him, "Hey Duo!" Hilde cried as she shook him awake, "Wake up! It's almost dinner time!"

Duo opened his eyes, "Huh? Room service? Not interested…" He went back to sleep, leaving a sweat-dropping Hilde standing over him.

Meanwhile, Quatre had suddenly bolted out of bed, "Oh my gosh! Trowa! We're going to be late for dinner! Trowa? TROWA!!!"

"Quatre, I'm over here." Trowa called from the other room. Quatre walked over and found Trowa waiting at the door.

"Well," said Trowa, "Let's go."

Relena walked into her room to find a sleeping Heero on their bed, "Aw…look at him…he's so cute when he sleeps," Relena thought as she kissed him on the cheek.

Heero rolled over and instinctively reached for his gun. He stopped when he saw Relena smiling at him, "Hnnnn…..Relena…"

Relena bent over Heero, "It's almost dinner time, Heero."

Heero sat up, "Roger that." He walked out.

Heero found the other pilots already at the dining table. 

Duo waved sleepily, "Hey Heero…ready for tonight…ugh…" He laid his head on Hilde's shoulder and continued sleeping. 

Heero muttered something and sat down. Unlike yesterday, today's dinner was rather peaceful. 

As soon as everyone was done eating, Relena stood up to make an announcement, "Excuse me everyone!" Everyone turned to look at Relena, "As you all recall, last night we had that little mishap with the stereo," This caused a slight murmur in the crowd. Relena continued, "Because of this, two people have volunteered to provide music for tonight's dance. Quatre, Trowa, please stand up." Quatre blushed and stood up. Trowa was still munching on a cookie when he stood up. The rest of the people applauded the two. The two guys bowed and sat down. 

A half-awake Duo leaned over to Heero and whispered, "Hey Heero!"

Heero turned around, "What?"

"Ask Relena when you're going to the hot tub!"

"Why?"

" 'cause! You know why!"

Heero 'Hnnnn…'ed and walked over to Relena, "Relena, I have a question…"

Relena's face lit up, "Oh! Don't tell me! Let me guess! You want to know when we get to go into the hot tub I told you about, right?"

Heero stared, "Yeah."

Relena winked, "After the dance, Heero!" 

Heero sat back down.

Duo, who was now mostly awake, whispered, "Well?"

Heero stared across the room, "After the dance."

Duo got up, "Ok, then. I'll go inform the others!"

Twenty minutes later, everyone assembled in the ballroom. Quatre and Trowa walked over to the nearby instrument case and brought out their respective instruments. 

"Hey Trowa," Quatre whispered, "Let's play that song!"

Trowa shrugged, "Ok."

Quatre smiled and began playing that song that was played when Quatre played the violin and Trowa joined in with the flute (episode 4 ?) However, by the time the people had started dancing, the song was over. 

Quatre looked at Trowa uneasily, "Uh…Trowa, do you know any other violin and flute duets?"

Trowa shook his head.

Meanwhile, Duo had walked up to the stereo and was busy inspecting it, "Hm…what's this?" He pulled the cover off of a machine next to the stereo, "Cool! A karaoke machine!" This got everyone's attention.

Relena blushed. She didn't want anyone to find that. She quickly ran up to Duo, "Ah…Duo, that doesn't work!"

Duo looked over the machine and pushed the on button. The lights came on and the machine hummed to life, "Heh, guess you didn't try the power button." He began looking through the list of songs, "Ooh! Hey guys! Why don't we sing uh…hey!" Suddenly the thing turned off, "What happened???"

Relena, who had cut several wires, sighed in relief. It was bad enough Duo discovered her karaoke machine and she didn't want things to get worse by having Duo sing to her guests. She quickly hid the scissors and stepped out from behind the machine, "See, Duo? It's broken!"

Duo shrugged, "Whatever." He walked off to find Hilde.

By then, Quatre and Trowa had found a new song to play and they were busy trying it out. Eventually they got it and Quatre announced, "Ok! We got a song! Ready, Trowa?" Trowa nodded. They began playing _The Beautiful Blue Danube_. After they finished the song, they were out of songs to play again. 

"Trowa, we're out, again." Quatre whispered.

Trowa handed Quatre his flute and pulled out a cassette from his pocket. He placed it in the stereo and grabbed a microphone. Meanwhile, everyone had covered their ears in anticipation of insanely loud music. Trowa caught this and before he pressed 'play', he made sure the volume was turned down to comfortable hearing levels. He pressed play and the music started. All of a sudden, Trowa began singing his 'Lonely' song (Operation 4, track 6). When Trowa had gotten past the first 'Lonely', everyone figured out that they were supposed to dance and danced they did. After the music stopped, everyone applauded wildly. It was the most Trowa had said since he got here, plus they were impressed that he could sing so well. Too bad they couldn't really understand what he was singing about (Trowa doesn't know either), though, except for Heero.   
"Hey Heero," Duo whispered, "What did—"

"Tell you later." Heero stared. Eventually Quatre and Trowa found more duets and the people had more music to dance to. Finally the dance was over. It was time for the hot tub. Everyone went upstairs to either sleep or change.

"Ok, guys," Duo said to the other pilots, "This is it!"

**PART VI: THE HOT TUB**

They met in the in the basement in their swim trunks, with towels wrapped around them. They paused at the door, "Ok, guys, on the count of three, we run out there. Trowa and Wufei, you guys will open the top." Quatre instructed, "Duo will start up the pool, while I keep a look out for Heero and Ms. Relena, got it?" Everyone nodded, "OK! Let's go!" 

"Psst! Quatre!" Duo whispered, "Count to three!"

Quatre sweat-dropped, "Oh yeah! Uh…three!" Everyone dashed outside into the snowy night.

"Oh $#%*!" Duo cried, "It's freezing out here!"

"BAH!" Wufei exclaimed as he and Trowa removed the cover, "It's snowing! Obviously it has to be cold!"

Duo ran over to the control panel, "Yeah, whatever." He began starting up the water jets, "Ok! Hop in!" The four pilots leapt into the hot tub.

"Aaaaahhh…" Duo sighed as he sat down, "Much better…"

Meanwhile, Relena and Heero were walking down the hallway to the basement when they bumped into Hilde and Sally, "Hey! Have any of you seen Duo?" Hilde asked worriedly.

Heero 'Hnnnn…'ed and Relena shook her head.

"Oh, I hope he didn't get lost!" Hilde ran off to find Duo, "DUO! DUO! GET YOUR BUTT OUT HERE, NOW! YOU'RE WORRYING THE CRAP OUTA ME!" 

Heero stopped Sally, "You looking for Wufei?"

Sally shrugged, "Not really."

Heero nodded and continued walking. 

Sally ran up to Hilde, "Hey Hilde! It's likely they're already in the hot tub, waiting for Heero and Relena!"

Hilde smacked her head, "Oh yeah! Now I remember! C'mon Sally! Let's go change into our bathing suits!" The two ran upstairs.

Back outside, the four Gundam pilots sat in the spacious hot tub, staring off into space.

"Well…" Quatre said as he stared at the falling snow, "We're here…"

"Yeah." Wufei huffed, "This is starting to get rather dull…"

"Quiet!" Duo suddenly said, "I hear someone!"

"C'mon, Heero!" they heard Relena say. Suddenly the door opened and out ran Relena, dragging Heero behind her. She didn't seem to notice that someone had already started up the tub and that there were four boys already inside. She dragged Heero in with her. 

"There!" Relena said as she snuggled up to a glaring Heero, "Isn't this comfy?"

Finally she noticed the four boys staring at her. She jumped and screamed, "WHAT THE #*%% ARE YOU GUYS DOING HERE??? THIS WAS SUPPOSED TO BE MY PRIVATE TIME WITH HEERO!"

"Hey!" Duo spoke up, "We were here first!"

"SO??? THIS IS MY TUB! I CAN KICK YOU GUYS OUT ANYTIME!" Relena continued. Everyone else sweat-dropped. 

Quatre stood up, "I'm sorry, Ms. Relena. I'll leave." He wrapped himself with his towel and slowly walked back to the house. 

Trowa stood up, "Sorry. Bye." He followed Quatre. 

Duo looked at the two and decided to follow, leaving only Wufei.

After a short pause, Wufei muttered, "Injustice," and left. About half way to the house, Relena suddenly felt remorseful of her actions. She had no right to yell at them. They were here first and they were only curious to see how the hot tub worked. At least, that's what she thought.

As Quatre opened the door, Relena called out to them, "Wait! Come back if you want!" The pilots pretended not to hear her until she called out, "I'm sorry!" The pilots turned around and ran back into the tub. 

"This is injustice!" Wufei muttered as he sat back down, "First I have to dress in inappropriate clothing for this kind of weather. Next I have to walk out here in the freezing cold. Then I have to be kicked out of the nice hot tub by a WOMAN. Then I have to walk back to the house, still wet and TWICE as COLD. Finally, the WOMAN resents and allows us back in, thus, we must walk BACK to the tub. HMPH!"

Trowa nudged Wufei and whispered, "She said you could come back if you wanted to."

Wufei stood up and yelled, "INJUSTICE!!!" 

Suddenly they heard a voice call from behind, "Good evening, everyone! Tee hee!"

Quatre immediately scooted a bit closer to Trowa.

Relena turned around, "Dorothy? You're here too???"

Dorothy smiled and removed her towel, "That's right. I heard all of this noise and decided to see for myself what was going on." She sat across from Quatre and winked. 

"DUO! THERE YOU ARE!" Hilde and Sally ran up to the hot tub, "We didn't know what time you guys would be in the tub!"

Duo sweat-dropped, "Oh, right…sorry."

Hilde shrugged and got in.

As Sally got in, she said, "Hey Wufei, you don't mind if I sit next to you, again, do you?"

Wufei crossed his arms and glared at the night sky, trying hard not to look at Sally in her bathing suit, "BAH! INJUSTICE! Why must I share a tub with all these women???"

"Hey Wufei," Duo said, "Don't look now, but one more just showed up."

Milliardo and Noin walked up to the hot tub, "Hello everyone." Noin said as she got in.

Milliardo pulled out his helmet from underneath his robe and climbed in, "Mind if my helmet and I join you guys?" He smirked at Duo, who was completely dumbfounded.

"Hey…did you…did you just hear what he said???" Duo asked Quatre.

Quatre looked uneasy, "Uh…Duo, this wasn't in Heero's plan, was it?"

Duo looked at everyone seated around the tub, "No."

Quatre shook Duo, "SOMEONE'S BEEN SPYING ON US!!! IT'S THE ONLY EXPLAINATION FOR ALL OF THIS!!!"

Relena spoke up, "What are you talking about, Quatre? If you were referring to everyone being here then I can explain. Once I saw you guys at the spaceport, I knew that you must have overheard what I had said to Heero, so I changed my plans and invited everyone in. Besides," she smiled, "There's plenty of room!"

Meanwhile, Milliardo, who had put on his helmet, decided to take it off, since his eyeholes were fogging up. 

Noin sighed, "Zechs, I told you it would fog up!"

Milliardo grunted and began wiping his helmet with his towel. Then he placed it in a nearby bench.

Noin put her hand to her forehead, "Oh Zechs! Now it's gonna freeze up!"

"No it won't. See?" Milliardo pointed to his towel, which he had wrapped his helmet in.

Noin sweat-dropped and decided to drop the topic.

"Duo," Hilde whispered as she held him close, "Don't fall asleep."

Duo pretended to drift off but she gently smacked him awake. 

Sally nudged Wufei, "Hey! Wufei! You asleep already?"

No answer.

Sally shook him gently, "Wufei! Do you want to go to sleep already?"

Still no answer from Wufei.

Duo splashed some water onto Wufei's head, "Hey! Wu-Man! Wake up! It's only…"

"Nine thirty two." Quatre said as-a-matter-of-factly, "P.M."

Finally Wufei lifted his head and looked at Sally, "Sally, I've been thinking…"

Sally blinked, "Uh…about what?"

"Isn't it about time you gave me a pay raise?"

Sally sweat-dropped, "Uh…I don't' hand out the paychecks. Lady Une does."

Wufei yelled, "INJUSTICE! EVERYTHING THAT I HAD PUT THOUGHT INTO, WASTED!"

Sally hugged Wufei and patted his head, "Aw…poor Wufei…"

Wufei blushed as everyone stared at them, "Guys…stop…"

Seeing that almost everyone else was cuddling up with someone, Dorothy decided to make her move. She waded over and sat between Quatre and Trowa, "Hello, boys, tee hee!" Dorothy giggled as she put her arms around their necks. Quatre blushed and tried not to look at Dorothy while Trowa just sat there, with his arms folded, staring off into space, as usual.

Quatre looked uneasy, "Um…hello, Ms. Dorothy…"

Dorothy smiled at him, "Hello, Quatre Winner."

"Hey Hilde," Duo muttered as the two leaned on each other.

"What?" Hilde answered.

"You know what would be funny?"

"What?"

"If all of a sudden there was a blizzard and we were still out here." Duo yawned.

"That's not funny." Hilde sighed.

Then Relena decided to turn the water jets on. She reached for the control panel and pressed a button. All of sudden there was a loud whir and water shot out at everyone's backside.

Quatre jumped, "Aaaauugghh! That tickles!"

"Aaaaahhh…much better…" Relena slid down a bit in her seat and held onto Heero's hand.

Unfortunately, Heero's rear was on his water jet and seemed rather uncomfortable.

Relena looked over at him, "Heero, what's wrong?"

Heero glared at no one in particular, "Nothing."

Then Trowa noticed the bubbles appearing from underneath Heero, "Stand up."

Heero stood up and looked behind him, "Hnnnn…."

"Wow." Sally said, "That must have hurt."

Heero grumbled and sat back down, away from the jet.

"So, what do you guys want to do now?" Quatre asked.

"Sleep," Duo muttered.

"Eat." Trowa said.

"Hnnnn...," said Heero

Wufei apparently had fallen asleep in Sally's arms. She looked down, smiled and continued holding him.

"Heh," Duo said sleepily, "No wonder it's so quiet, aside from the motors that is."

"BAH!" they heard Wufei mutter.

Duo smirked, "Oh, I get it! The Wu-Man talks in his sleep too!"

Suddenly Wufei turned around and glared at Duo, "INJUSTICE! I DON'T TALK IN MY SLEEP, UNLIKE YOU!"

Sally patted the enraged Wufei on the head, "There, there, Wufei, it'll be ok."

Wufei blushed and let Sally continue cuddling him. However, the sight of almost everyone cuddling with someone else made Dorothy a bit compelled to cuddle up with someone, too. Unfortunately, Noin had Milliardo, while Relena would fight to stay next to Heero and that left Quatre and Trowa. She enjoyed teasing Quatre and Trowa didn't seem scared of her lovely eyebrows. Suddenly a thought crossed her mind. Actually, it was several thoughts. She smiled and pulled the two guys close to her.

"Tee hee! Everyone else is cuddling! We should too!" Dorothy said to Quatre and Trowa.

Quatre grabbed at Dorothy's arm that was around his neck, "Ack! Uh…Ms. Dorothy! Could you please stop!? You're sqeezing me!"

Dorothy let go of Quatre and giggled, " Sqeezing? Oh, that's so cute!" She hugged Quatre and giggled again. 

Quatre blushed uncontrollably, "Uh…I meant to say squeezing!" He looked over her shoulder at Trowa, who just stared back and shrugged. 

Eventually, everyone thought it was about time to head back in.

"Duo? DUO! WAKE UP!" Hilde screamed, "It's time to go in!"

Duo stood up, "Huh? You go ahead. I'll sleep in here where it's nice and warm…" Hilde grabbed him and pulled him out. 

Relena clung onto Heero as the two got out, "Eeek! Heero! Could you hand me my towel???"

Heero looked around, "Where is it?"

Relena pointed to the bench, "It's over there! Oh, and do hurry! It's freezing out here!"

Heero walked over to the bench, with Relena still clinging to his wet body, "Not here."

Relena looked around, "Are you sure? It's pink and-"

"Nope." 

"Oh there it is!" Relena sighed when she saw Quatre hold up a pink and purple towel. She stopped when she saw Quatre's name sewn onto it in yellow letters.

Heero turned around, "Maybe you didn't bring one."

Relena's eyes widened, "Oh…my…gosh…uh…Heero…could I use-"

Heero started to walk, "I didn't bring one."

Relena started to panic, "But aren't you cold???"

Heero kept walking, "I've been to colder places."

Milliardo reached under his towel and pulled out his helmet, "Ah! Here it is! Hmm…it's got frost all over it! That's weird. I put my towel on it…hm. Oh well." He put it on, "WWWAAAAGHH!" He quickly pulled it off, "It's freezing!"

Noin sweat-dropped, "Told you."

Sally let go off Wufei and reached for their towels, "Hey Wufei, get up. We're going in."

Wufei muttered in his sleep, "No, come back and cuddle me some more, please?"

Sally smiled, "Aw…Wufei! GET UP!" 

Wufei bolted up and saluted, "YES, SIR!" Apparently he still refused to call her 'm'am' since he thought it would be somewhat insulting to himself if he worked for a woman.

Quatre and Trowa were walking along, side by side with their towels wrapped around them when Dorothy suddenly jumped onto Quatre's back, "Tee hee! You don't mind, do you?"

Quatre blushed as he tried to keep his balance, "Uh…not at all…"

Dorothy leaned over and whispered, "Try supporting me."

Trowa stopped and held onto Dorothy's arm as they continued walking rather slowly now. 

Soon they made it upstairs into their rooms, getting ready for bed.

Quatre breathed a sigh of relief as he leaned against the door, "Whew…that was embarrassing. Having to carry Dorothy up those stairs was a lot of work. Thanks for helping me, Trowa."

Trowa walked towards the bathroom, "You're welcome, Quatre."

Meanwhile, Sally had just come out of the shower when she saw Wufei blow-drying his hair, "Hey Wufei."

"Hi…Sally." Wufei pretended to ignore her.

Sally walked to her side of the room and called out, "We can cuddle again, if you want!"

Duo snored as he stood in the shower. Suddenly Hilde's voice called out, "Hey Duo! Are you done yet??? You've been in there for half an hour! Are you alright? Duo? DUO! ANSWER ME!" She tried to turn the doorknob but it was locked.

All of a sudden, Duo awoke, "Whoa…how did I get here?" Then he heard Hilde calling him, "Yeah! I'm still alive! I just fell asleep in the shower! That's all!"

Hilde sweat-dropped and sighed, "Duo…not again…"

Across the hall, in Noin and Milliardo's room, things weren't exactly going so smoothly either.

"Zechs!" Noin called, "Stop shining your helmet and go to sleep!"

"Ok! Hold on!" Milliardo called as he continued rubbing his helmet with a felt cloth, "Done!" He held his helmet from a distance to admire its shine. Then he carefully wrapped it in a towel and placed it in the box. Then he walked over to the bed that they shared.

Noin looked up, "Zechs! Your hair! It's a mess! Come sit down and I'll brush it for you!" 

Milliardo ran his fingers through his hair, "My hair's fine." He got in the bed and immediately fell asleep.

A clicking noise suddenly awoke Quatre, "Hey Trowa," he whispered, "Did you hear that?" No answer. Quatre pulled the covers up to his nose in fright. Then he remembered Trowa's gun in his duffle bag. Then there was a loud click and the sound of the doorknob turning. Quatre frantically searched for a weapon. Then he remembered. He was about to shout out Trowa's name when a figure leapt on top of him and covered his mouth with a hand. 

The figure leaned forward and whispered, "Good evening, Quatre Raberba Winner."

Quatre nearly passed out and it wasn't because of her strong perfume.

** **

**PART VII: GOING HOME**

** **

Once again, the people didn't exactly sleep well. This time, Duo rolled himself off the bed, along with the sheets, leaving poor Hilde freezing through the night. Noin had to deal with Milliardo's snoring and him occasionally kicking her. Sally and Wufei had a pleasant sleep, until Sally knocked Wufei over when she woke up. Relena had trouble breathing since Heero was clutching her so hard as he slept. Quatre had to deal with Dorothy sneaking into their room and hugging him like a stuffed toy as she slept. Fortunately she was gone when he woke up. As for Trowa, he missed the whole scene and was sound asleep. 

Everyone met downstairs for breakfast with their bags. 

"Good morning, everyone," Relena gasped as she rubbed her sides.

"G…ggood morning…Ms…Relena…" Quatre said timidly.

Hilde sneezed, "Good morning…"

"Hey Wufei, about this morning-" Sally started,

Wufei cut her off, "SILENCE, WOMAN! HOW DARE YOU KNOCK ME OFF THE BED WHEN I WOKE UP???"

Sally shouted back, " IT WAS AN ACCIDENT, DANG IT! GET IT THROUGH YOUR GREASED HEAD!!!"

Wufei steamed, "IT'S NOT GREASED, WOMAN! MY HAIR IS TIED BACK!"

"Zechs! Stop looking through my purse!" Noin cried.

Milliardo continued rummaging through Noin's purse, "C'mon! Where's that nail polish???" Everyone besides Noin sweat-dropped at this seemingly unusual sight.

"Let's eat." Duo said as he walked off to the dining room. Everyone followed.

"Trowa!" Heero said, " Stop taking all of the coffee!"

Trowa gulped his sixth cup, "Need coffee to keep my energy up." A normal person should start shaking uncontrollably by now, but not Trowa. Instead, his eyes just widened a bit.

"Hey!" Duo cried, "I wanted that donut!"

Sally shrugged as she bit into the last jelly-filled donut, "Sorry."

Quatre patted Duo on the back, "It's ok, Duo. There's plenty of donuts at the spaceport and on the shuttle!"

"Oh yeah…" Duo paused, "Ok, then. I'll have toast!"

All of a sudden, a voice that almost made Quatre toss his tea in fright whispered in his ear, "Good morning, Quatre Raberba Winner! Tee hee!"

Quatre whirled around, "DOROTHY! PLEASE STOP DOING THAT!!! IT…. it…it scares me…"

Dorothy pretended to look remorseful, "Oh, I'm sorry, Quatre! I won't do that again! Tee hee!" She walked over to get herself some tea. After breakfast, Relena took everyone to the spaceport. As they were about to enter the gate, Milliardo stopped Duo, "Hey kid, I liked how you did the helmet and everything but the eyeholes are all wrong! They're supposed to be like the Gundam's eyes, not big circles!"

Duo stopped, "Hey!!! How did you know about my—oops." He saw Dorothy smiling in the background, while waving a video camera, "Oh crap." Duo thought as he thought of little scenes about Relena's reaction once she saw his impression of her. 

Duo ran up to Quatre and said hysterically, "Hey Quatre! You were right! Someone was spying on us!!!"

Quatre turned around and shook Duo hysterically, "Yes, I know that, Duo! She told me last night and---ooh!!! I just can't bear to tell you!!!"

Duo paused, "Tell me what???"

"Nothing!" Quatre ran off to catch up with the others.

As they walked towards the shuttle, Relena called as she waved, "Bye, everyone! Thanks for coming! Oh! And I'll be having a Christmas party in two weeks!" The Gundam pilots sweat-dropped as they boarded the shuttle. This time, they made Duo sit on one side of the row while Wufei sat on the other. Next to Duo was Quatre, followed by Trowa and Heero. Once again, Hilde and Sally got first class.

"Now you boys behave!" Sally said sternly as she and Hilde walked towards the front of the shuttle.

"Oh boy." Duo sighed, "I'm bored."

Quatre turned around, "What? You're bored already? But we've just sat down!"

Duo turned his head, "Yeah, I know, but I'm out of things to do I mean, I've done my regular sleeping activities, annoyed the heck outa the Wu-Man, eaten most of my cookies and tried out all of the buttons on my arm rest."

Quatre sighed and pulled out a piece of paper, "Wanna draw pictures?"

A smile spread across Duo's face, "OK!"

About ten minutes after they cleared the atmosphere, Duo put down his pen, "Alright, done!"

Quatre looked over the mess that they had made. The paper was now full of Tic-Tac-Toe games, scribbles and demented stick figures, "Uh…which one is it?"

Duo pointed to a figure with long, spiky hair, bug-eyes, buck teeth and whiskers, "That."

Quatre sweat-dropped, "Let me guess…that's…"

Duo nodded his head, "Yep, the Wu-Man!"

Then they heard Wufei shout from the other side of the row, "What are you up to now, Maxwell???"

"Oh nothing!" Duo called back, "Just having a little conversation with Quatre!"  
Soon most of the people were sound asleep, except for Trowa and Heero. 

"So," Trowa said to Heero, "You going back this Christmas?"

Heero read one of the pamphlets in the seat pocket, "Yeah, but I suppose I'll have to get her something."

Trowa nodded, "That's true. Maybe you should start planning ahead."

Heero continued studying the diagrams, "Trowa, you have a sister, right?"

Trowa searched through his seat pocket for something to read too, "Yeah, so?"

"So, what does she like?" 

"Why do you ask?"

"Well, I figure that whatever your sister likes, Relena would probably like too."

Trowa raised an eyebrow, "Oh? Ok I'll ask her when we get back."

"Thanks, Trowa."

"You're welcome, Heero." Trowa suddenly noticed Wufei wake up, "Hey, Wufei, are you going back this Christmas?"

Wufei stretched and crossed his arms, "Hmmm…maybe…hey, listen, I heard you two talking a few minutes ago and I was wondering…"

"Let me guess," Heero interjected, "You want Trowa to tell you what his sister likes so you have a vague idea of what Sally might like?"

Wufei stared, slightly dumbfounded, "Uh…yeah…"

Trowa gave a little smile, "Oh, I'm sure it'll be easy to get Sally something. Just give her one of Heero's guns or bombs and she'll be happy." Heero and Wufei couldn't help but chuckle a bit.

"Whoa…" they suddenly heard Duo say, "I just had this weird dream!"

Quatre awoke, "Huh? What do you mean?"

Duo continued, "I dreamt that Trowa, Heero, and Wufei were having an actual conversation together and they were telling jokes and stuff…"

Heero leaned passed Trowa and glared, "Go back to sleep."

Duo shrugged, "Yeah, whatever."

Quatre turned to Trowa, "Hey, Trowa?"

Trowa looked at Quatre, "Yeah, Quatre?"

"I was just thinking…I've known you for several years now, right?"

"Yeah?"

"Well…since Duo brought up the subject, I don't think I've ever heard you laugh before!"

Trowa just shrugged and continued reading the pamphlet, " Get some sleep, Quatre."

Quatre readjusted his pillow, "Ok." As soon as Quatre was asleep, Trowa leaned over Heero, "Hey Wufei,"

Wufei looked up, "Yeah?"

Trowa gave a little smile, "Perhaps Sally would like some jewelry."

Wufei rubbed his chin, "Hmm…. yesss…women are somewhat obsessed over jewelry. Perhaps you are right. I'll consider that. Thank you for the tip, Trowa."

Trowa nodded, "Yeah sure."

Heero suddenly spoke up, "Yeah, and if that doesn't work, you'll always have my bombs and guns." 

Wufei smirked, "Yessss…. I believe she would enjoy those too…"

Meanwhile, Sally and Hilde were wondering what the pilots were doing.

Hilde shrugged, "Hey, who knows? They even might be thinking of what to get us!"

Sally smiled, "Yeah, speaking of which, what are you getting Duo?"

Hilde sighed, "You know, I really don't know. Maybe I'll just get him one of those Deathscythe model kits or something."

Sally shook her head, "No, he'd probably have all of those by now."

Hilde paused, "Hmm…. you're probably right. I mean he does act like he's hiding something from me when I try to look in his closet for something."

Sally giggled, "You know what? He probably has a little Deathscythe shrine in his closet!"

Hilde's eyes widened, "Hey! That actually makes sense! Oh, anyways, maybe I'll get him another jacket or some new boots."

Sally sighed, "Heh, that's easy for you. The only things I know Wufei likes are swords, justice, and the little bits of his Gundam that he saved."

Hilde smiled at that, "Oh? He has pieces of his Gundam, too?"

Sally rubbed her forehead with her fingers, "Yeah, and it's driving me crazy. He has converted one of his rooms into a shrine for his _'deceased' Gundam_ as he called it. Everyday, he takes like half an hour, praying and worshipping at his little shrine."

Hilde giggled, "Let me guess. He has all of the Altron figures and model kits, right?"

Sally leaned forward in her seat, "Yeah, and he's even got posters, drawings, you name it! Well, his drawings are pretty good though…"

Hilde paused, "T-shirts?"

"Yes! He's got those too!" Sally seemed quite upset.

Hilde patted Sally on the back, "It's ok, Sally. I know it probably seems like he likes his Gundam more than you, but one day, he'll come to his senses."

Sally looked up, "Hm, that would be the day Trowa and Heero laugh."

Hilde smiled at the thought, "I can' really imagine that though. Then again…oh! We keep getting off the subject!"

Sally shrugged, "It's like some bad habit."

Hilde paused to think, "Ooh! I know! Get him some gift cards! That way, he can spend it on what ever he wants!"

Sally smiled, "Yeah and if that doesn't work, I'll probably buy him a set of kitchen knives!"

The rest of plane trip was uneventful. When they got back to their homes, they each ran off to find something for their special friend in preparation for Relena's Christmas party.

End of Part ONE


End file.
